^^Yeah, I see you and Cara are doing an all round adverts campaign here; what happened? Lost contributors or a chunck of the readers? ;P That happens when you make a feminazi a consultant of home-affairs .... Haneefah, Alla ya cizak! Sidaasaad igu ogtahay inabti . Sheekadayada halkaaseey ka sii soconaysaa, Insha-Allah... Ii wad sheekada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar9p-3ZzJn8 One of my old favs...enjoy

Looooooooooool God! You know I could never listen to Inde Monie without leaping to my feet and doing the zaire-wa tripping dance move ... Berigaa wuu na qabsaday Kanda Bongo man.. Lol. I dare all anyway to resist the temptation to dance... I have a Ugandan friend come in right now and upon hearing it starting to dance lol

^Walaahi thats an amazing track lol ..Mory kante.. Hey remember that song that went something like 'tuende mombasa tujenge gorofa...' or something similar to that ..it must have been around 88/90 FFward some years into the early 90s..remember Agolo? Angelique Kidjo? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vP3ic1Jwog

[EDIT] My bad! I forgot to add this to the above. Do you want another plausible explanation of why so many are switching sides in so many numbers? Well, think about it, there are few switch-up options for the few long-term focused opportunists. The have only two options left to them. Either switch between a Somali secessionist or an Ethiopian occupation? Now hypothetically, let's assume that you ( ) want to switch sides but you are mindful of how Somali history would charge you. The first option is to side with the Ethiopia's TFG, to which there are pre-requisites to getting to quick bucks. For you to get something fleshy to sink your teeth into, you first need to be a selected warlord or clan MP, which is really kind of difficult for the switchers. But even when you get past that and get yourself into the Baidoa circus, there is this social stigma attached to becoming a willing supporter of the Ethiopian occupation. Be assured, even most careless opportunist switchers wouldn't commit the treasonous crime of becoming known as a stooge. Stoogism takes altogether a different kind of opportunism. For an opportunist in the North, the other (switching to Somaliland) option is simply the perfect opportunity. You see, the Somaliland option offers so many expedient gains; such as a quick buck, and the safe knowledge that the idea of Somaliland is considered by many to be a pipe-dream that won't see the light of day. More comfortably, to the opportunist, soon as a legitimate and free Somali state comes into an existence, Somaliland would simply come to the table of negotiation and its that which matters most. The opportunists believe they can have their share now and also then . Smart thinking, eh? Even as un-selected political hagglers they'll have their share of the national pie quite easily .

Originally posted by NGONGE: Surely it is not as if he needs to talk to every last cousin he has in order to show them the folly of their ways. If the family bonds are strong and if he's still in contact with the people that matter, all he needed to do is make a couple of phone calls and try to reason with the people concerned! As things stand, this piece has a strong whiff of desperation and the cry of he that wails from the margins! Lol. NGONGE, I wouldn't be so hasty to smell a whiff of desperation from the author's piece. I think you are under the assumption of thinking that all members of the same region have equal access to each other in communicating intended messages to each other. Its like assuming that our good NGONGE has a direct communicational link with all deserters of beloved Somaliland, and could easily request an audience (may that be virtual or otherwise) with those, say, who have abandoned to the TFG? Or perhaps you can, eh? Perhaps you could gather the few misbehaving boys and tell them off in familial circle under a qurac shade . Now let us assume you have no such privileges graced upon you by the all-mighty elders of the reerka. Then, how best would you choose to address your unreachable and intended audience? Wouldn't the Internet be a good device to employ? For you it may as well not be but for the chap who wrote the above piece, it seems, he has realized to use the Internet to his advantage. Its cheap, fast and most importantly, exactly the perfect tool for informational mass consumption. Now, why would you scoff the fellow and charge him with a state of desperation? That is a bit too unsuitable a charge, wouldn't you think? Still, and keeping with my new reached resolution to abandon my fence and fly the flag of Somaliland, allow me to make a couple of observations: At last, eh? I can't blame you man, because lately it seems things are starting to brighten up for Somaliland's case. Absolutely the most opportune time to jump on the wagon. Good thinking, NGONGE. You know when to make your move and that is an admirable trait in a person . Hey, I kidding lol. Yet, recently, the trickle has turned into an avalanche and the number of those changing sides seems to (surprisingly) have increased. Could it really all be about the selling out of principles and pursuit of a quick payday? On the other hand, the number of those switching sides and abandoning Somaliland seems to decrease and is hardly noticeable these days! What is the cause of such a decline, I wonder! Yeah, I would agree with you. lately, the rumour in the town has it that Somaliland admin's coffers have been replenished recently by some donor dollars, chiefly, it has been said, those precious dollars handed out by the US. This is a rumour that I am not certain whether its true. But if it is indeed true, surely that would explain the stream of deserters now basking in Hargeysa. Well, that could be a good explanatory theory, wouldn't you say? Even the tired old SNM slur (like the one the author above has used) is starting to lose its old shine. Though it may sound mischievous one is obliged to suggest that these writers and commentators start using the term SNM & CO when disparaging the State Of Somaliland (for their intellectual and factual integrity, you understand). Lol. That is old news, my man. The days when some cried out the statements that the so-called Somaliland is simply the re-incarnation of the old SNM, were the days when those who made those statements, were not absolutely sure that what they were saying was true. But it now seems their statements have assumed a new and real face, that is, the minute Somaliland troops marched into Laas Caanood city! 'Waa wareey!', they all screamed at the top of their lungs, 'the expansionist SNM is the move again, exactly just like the early 90s'. Thus, their previous pre-occupation with 'slurring' statements have now served their correct purpose of warning against the SNM, which is now forcefully occupying Laas Caano and also leering at Maakhir regions. These folks are busy collecting their war-tools to repel the SNM from Laas Caano and are trying to stop it from becoming tempted in other excursions. So you see, even if one argues SNM is non-existent and that Laas Caanood is not occupied by the SNM, your words would most likely fall on death ears. Such is the way it is amigo . Many of the replies to follow will probably justify the current situation by blaming it on mercenaries and rats. But here is a little fact to show you that you underestimate rats at your peril: when a ship is sinking, the first creatures to abandon it are the rats! The author and his ilk may just want to think about this and follow the rats to take their rightful seats in the Somaliland rescue boats. Lol. Ofcourse, NGONGE. Who could underestimate the rats? I tell you, rats are be very dangerous animals! Not just that they spread deadly diseases but also, before they jump off 'the sinking ship' they have this natural tendency to chip at all kinds of wood. Even good old Oak or Mahogany cannot be entrusted to them! These little creatures don't seem to care whether the wood they chip away is the roof's timber or the floor boards of the ship in deep seas! And when the house starts to crumble or the ship starts to sink, they simply jump off roof or in this case jump ship and move on to their next roof or ship to chip away at. They may be clever to be the first to jump ship but then when it comes to the long-term, they tend to be not so clever. Soon enough they sink the next ship they sought refuge in until they run out of ships to sink. So think again about it; is Hargeysa safe with so many rats forever chipping away?

Too bad for the one they've tapped his phone line, but still, even if they say they have evidence connecting him to al-Shabaab, I don't think the case would stick. Al-shabaab isn't really connected to Al-Qaeda in actual sense. Rather, only few wannabe members (especially those who 'claim' to have been trained in Afghanistan) are trying to make Al-Shabaab come across as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in Somalia. Even after so many deliberate publicity declarations, no one within or outside Somalia seems to be buying the propaganda plot. If anything, it shows the sheer shallowness of some in Al-Shabaab, in failing to understand their false statements would only dry up the number of willing financial supporters in the diaspora. Perhaps it would be fitting if they stop shooting themselves in the foot . PS: On the alleged transfer of $40, 000; one thing that has be recognized is that Somali money transfer firms are simply business minded - in that they will transfer money for any Somali individual wishing to transfer money to Somalia or anywhere else. The arrested chap might have been really doing just that, and might have called the recipients of his transfers in Somalia to confirm safe delivery. That is exactly what every worker in the Xawaalahs does anyway... So, methinks phone evidence wont stick either .

^^You sound like one Originally posted by Haneefah: LoL. Ciisow, ma boqol halaad kaliya umbaad ii quudhey huuno, oodan weliba goyn kerin? And here I was expecting something along the line of a beautiful ranch near those scenic mountains in Sanaag with a dozen gorgeous, golden brown, native stallions on top of boqolka halaad reeraha lagu aamusiin lahaa. Laakeen hadda, xaaladaadu waa iska bariga dhexe inabti . FB...that is sooo last summer MN, and so very single motherish sheeko Haneefa, Reerkiina hodankaan ogahay siduu geelu ugu sharaf weyn yahay, gacaliso . Marka boqolkaa halaad iyagaan isaga sii jeedinayaa balse tan kalee Fardaha daaqa Calaha Sanaag iyo intii kalee siyaado ku ahba ma inaan kuu quuri karayo ayuu shaki kaaga jiraa? War walaaleey, boqolka halaadba kun inooga dhig iyo degel Sanaageed. Intaa iyo in ka sii badan ayaan afka kugu siiyey...bal taa iyada ah ka waran? PS: Xaalada bariga dhexe? Ma ahee?

Topic revisited. Below is Part II that ensues the initial Part I of this topic. Since I once promised to post the remaining parts (one of which has now been published by Dhahar.com), I thought it would be best to update you fellow nomads who have contributed to this topic. ------ Revised Part I can be found HERE. SOMALI UNITY: Enforced or Earned? Part II Feb 10, 2008 (B) The legality of Somali unity or disunity There are those who rightly posit the argument that the agreement of Union, which the North and South of Somalia have entered into, is still legally binding. Does this argument have a strong appeal? The answer is yes. Since the agreement of union was signed, there has been no known occasion in which it was revoked. Whatever grievances the northerners might have had, they have never been able to be in a position to revoke it, or cut ties with the South. Such revocation has been particularly made difficult by the fact that, in the last thirty years of Somali statehood, the country has either been under dictatorship or in chaos. In the nine years the country has known its shoddy democracy, that is before it was curtailed by dictatorship, the country was in the phase of national integration. Thus, whatever other protestations the northerners might have made, it was in the years of rule of Siad Barre that have vocalised them, and later animated their resistance, the kind of politics they believed has disadvantaged them. Since the country was under dictatorship, attempts at expression through political means would have been futile exercise. Hence the northerners’ latterly choice of active and armed rebellion was the avenue pioneered by the current TFG president, Abdullahi Yussuf, with the help of Ethiopia. Were Northerners also to raise the question of secession, which they were legally well-placed to seek, such an attempt would also have fallen on deaf ears. What needs to be understood is that legal agreements are entered by two independent parties, with their best interests considered. To revoke such a legal agreement, therefore, requires the presence of these parties, functioning operatively, who, at the realization that their interests are not best served in unity, agree to go their different ways. In Somalia’s case, and especially during the early 1990s, the total collapse of the central state has raised legal questions for the state of unity in the country. The country entered a legal limbo in which the unity that comprised of parts of the country found themselves in positions where previously agreed upon national institution, was no longer in existence. Thus to uphold previous unity agreements, became comparable to a situation where a consenting husband and wife have abruptly died, stating in their will their desire to their grown children to by the byways of pre-set family laws. And since there was a marital agreement between the father and the mother, the children being told that their deceased parents’ agreement legally forces them to remain, albeit a leaderless family unit, under the dictates of their parents’ will. Is this logic a plausible one? To some, it may be, but in the obvious sense, the grown children are not bound by marital agreements their parents entered into. On the contrary to what one might argue, the grown children, whenever they are determined to be of their own sound decisions, are legally in a position to mind their own affairs. This has been the condition of both the North and the South of Somalia, when the state collapsed. The collapse of the state has legally freed both sides from any strictures the Act of Union might have placed upon them. The parent, which was the national state, has died, and with it, the unity. There are no agreements or rules in chaos but disunity. In all things that come to exist, the advent of one phenomenon dispenses one previously binding, or gripping, circumstance. For example, the advent of independence has freed all African countries from the bounds of colonial laws and rules. In Somalia, independence freed the country from colonialism and unity the disunity. Thus, the chaos of the early 1990s that had ushered in disunity, has freed Somalia’s regions from unity. This displacement of one thing by the advent of another can easily be stretched further, and widened, to territorial disputes based on colonial borders raging within the country. It is of paramount importance that we recognize that the advent of unity with Somalia has nullified, or displaced the formation of British Somaliland borders, for former the division that existed between the two parts of the country were replaced by a unity, ensued by a creation of provinces. So although the northerners might have been freed from unity, by the death of the national state, it cannot automatically be claimed that SSC regions are part and parcel of current Somaliland. It is worthwhile understanding that after the early 1990s’ chaos and disunity, all Somali regions were placed in a level platform, upon which they can decide on their affairs as befits them. Unity or cooperation between regions, if need be, is thus dependent on the forging of new agreements by concerned and interest-oriented parties. Pursuing policies contrary to this may thus be construed as coercion and forceful occupation. This point brings us to the third part of this writing, the territorial implications of unity and disunity. © The territorial implications of unity and disunity..coming soon, Insha-Allah. --- A. Isseh Email: ali.isseh@gmail.com Exclusive DHAHAR Contributor. Copyright@dhahar.com Dhahar.com

^I think the rift between the fronts of re-liberation is already real. The ARS has rationally realized that the sort of exclusivity al-Shabaab insist on stands no chance to win the war, hence their visible compositional difference from al-Shabaab. I think the ARS (especially Sh. Shariif's view of things) looks promising but the view of al-Shabaab's Ayrow and Al-amriki, which as I said in another thread positioned to harbour a globalist ambition of liberation, is increasingly becoming unpopular with many war-weary Somalis. Nonetheless, al-Shabaab still commands a sizable support among Somalis and some non-Somali Muslims. On splits blighting the re-liberation movement; I doubt it. So long as it is Ethiopia and the US that we are dealing with, it will take more than splits to undermine the struggle.

^^Not just Whitechapel but all over E. London, GJ. Yes, you are right. Al-muhaajiroun and HT's membership recruitment has recently been waning. I think this is down to several factors. But the main one must be the shift int the government's politics in tolerating the messages these organizations propagate, especially for the London bombing. This shift has made many youngsters in university campuses (which is where their membership principally came from) think twice in joining either Almuhajiroun or HT. The fact is the activities of these organizations are most probably closely watched and no youngster in his/her right mind would contemplate association with them. Furthermore, in some universities, there are actual secret service agents posing as students. I remember one time in 2005 having a jewish guy in a seminar class about the politics of the Middle East accidentally admitting to be an MI6 agent . The strange thing was the class was mainly composed on Palestians/other Arabs and Jewish students plus other Muslims like myself. I must admit, the debates were unusually very heated and I remember, with the help of another Muslim student cornering the guy until he furiously said...'oh you guys are incorrect in saying this or that because I was briefed about this issue and its like this!' . We pushed him, against the advice of others that we walking on egg-shells, until he admitted who he was. Cornering people was my specialty laakiin beryahan I hardly come across any good debater to corner . Caamir , To answer your question, I think when it comes to those youngsters you speak of, I don't think there is an campaign out there to influence Somalis into doing what they don't wish to do, specifically when it comes to defending their own country against an illegal occupation. The influences these Western government usually talk about seems to be related to individual who are being influenced into fighting a cause in a country that is originally not the one they hail from. What you should understand that what is being fought and suppressed by these government is essence a single idea ; the idea of young Muslims developing a transnational (or global ummah-inspired) awareness which is perceived to be underminding that idea of border-defined 'nationalis' that is the bed-rock of Western civilization itself. Thus, as far as Somalis going back to their native country to join al-Shabaab and fight the Ethiopian occupation is concerned, that is, in Western eyes, still these youngsters' right to defend their nationhood. As for al-Shabaab itself, apart from Cayrow's repeated verbal self-association with Osama, it still remains a national movement regardless what others call them. The only time al-Shabaab and those who decide to join pose any danger, it seems, is when they start to harbour international or translational political and territorial ambitions, which as the ambition that professed during their brief reign in Mogadishu. For the time being, all that has thrown at al-Shabaab and those who join them are just condemnations and nothing more. Sometimes, even those whom Ethiopia has arrested and alleged them to be part of al-Shabaab were released by the respective Western governments.

^^G, in the UK the UIC enjoy a great deal of support and members who represent or support the UIC actually appear on the national TVs sometimes to argue their case. Conferences organized by the UIC are openly held in main conference and university halls. I don't think the UIC has any image problem so far. But unfortunately, it seems al-Shabaab is starting to get bad publicity mostly because of Cayrow's constant reference to Osama Bin Ladin. I have even encountered few protestations amongst Somali crowds who previously supported al-Shabaab during the Baidoa stand-off. And these folks ask themselves why Cayrow finds it necessary to begin all his broadcasts by sending greetings to Osama? What benefit does that accrue al-Shabaab movement except further isolate it? I guess they have a point there. Shar ma'arke , The Swedes seem somewhat lost between a definitional categorization of what really entails the act of financing 'terror organizations', and what is genuinely a resistance movement. I believe they should cut short this blind tendency of being swept along by the collectivized wave of Uncle Sam's phony 'war on terror'. On raiding Somali-owned money transfer firms, perhaps the Swedes should come to the UK with their clip-boards and learn few truths about what sort of work xawaalahs do in essence. It seems the Swedes are ill-informed in this operation and are repeating the same mistake, which resulted int the US' unfair black-listing of what was Al-Baraak money transfer, unleashing untold miseries for many Somali families who are solely dependent on money transfer firms for daily bread. PS: As concerns Al-Shabaab, I think of that old adage of 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter'. Although there are some aspects of al-Shabaab's operations I oppose, yet, these men are a breed of Somalia's current freedom fighters. A fact that cannot, to a greater extent, be dismissed from the books of Somalia's realpolitik. Would have been nice if they minimize undertaking activities that make them seem threatening to the very public they are so nobly defending. A bit of PR and slight policy shifts would do wonders for them.

^Booto.com

From The Times February 29, 2008 For ten weeks they kept the secret of Widow Six Seven American pilots, Afghan soldiers and Taleban fighters - all of them were unaware that the third in line to the throne was in their midst Ben Macintyre On New Year’s Eve the battlefield air controller known to pilots as “Widow Six Seven” – but better known to the world as Prince Harry – called in his first airstrike on a Taleban position: Operation Purple. At the Prince’s direction, two US F15 jets, their pilots quite unaware that they were acting on royal command, dropped two 500lb bombs on to a Taleban bunker system. A third exploded as Taleban fighters emerged from the position. Working from a fortified position nearby, the 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer and third in line to the throne is formally known as a forward air controller (FAC) or joint tactical air controller (JTAC). In nonmilitary parlance, he plans, rehearses and launches air attacks. Before his deployment to Afghanistan, the Prince said he craved anonymity. Fighting and living on the front line, in the dust, noise and excitement, he has discovered, he says, a sense of normality in circumstances most people would regard as anything but normal. “All my wishes have come true,” he said. Two days before Operation Purple, Taleban fighters had been seen digging trenches and fortifications behind their lines. Using pictures from reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned drones, Harry’s task was to monitor movement on the ground, identify enemy forces, ensure that there were no civilians or “friendlies” in the area, and bring in the bombs. On the night before the attack he stayed at his post until after midnight, surveying the area with the help of a night-flying Desert Hawk drone that beamed back pictures on the computer screen nicknamed “Taleban TV” or, more grimly, “Kill TV”. Early next morning artillery forced the Taleban back to their bunkers, 150 metres behind the lines. Harry verified the coordinates one last time and called in the jets. Once the pilots were ready to attack, they radioed “in hot” to Widow Six Seven. Harry signalled back: “cleared hot”, and a few moments later the bombs began to fall. On another occasion, when Taleban group was spotted moving forward to attack Camp Delhi, Harry manned the .50 calibre machinegun for the first time, firing across no man’s land while a Gurkha filmed on Harry’s handheld camera. “This is the first time I’ve fired a .50 cal,” he admitted with a grin. “It’s just no man’s land. They poke their heads up and that’s it. “The whole place is just deserted,” he said, looking out over the desolate, pitted land. “There are craters all over the place – it just looks like something out of the Battle of the Somme.” For two months this has been Harry’s world. He has been secretly working on the front line in Helmand, the first member of Royal Family to take part in military action since Prince Andrew in Falklands. Living on the most basic rations, deprived of clubs, drink, and his hard-living familiars, Prince Harry has never been happier. “What am I missing? Nothing, really. It’s nice just to be here with all the guys and just mucking in as one of the lads.” Conditions are spartan, to say the least. At night in December in Forward Base Dwyer the temperature dropped to minus 8C (17.6F). The sleeping areas, metal cages filled with blast-proof rubble, have no heating. There is almost no running water. Shaving is restricted to once every three days, and the shower is a punctured bag in a wooden cubicle. Toilet facilities consist of pipes half-buried in the sand, known as “desert roses”, and the traditional plywood “thunderboxes”, positioned facing south – “to bare your *** to the enemy”, in the standard military joke. “It’s bizarre,” the Prince remarked. “I’m out here now, haven’t really had a shower for four days, haven’t washed my clothes for a week, and everything feels completely normal.” Harry arrived in Afghanistan shortly before Christmas. Within days he had been sent to Forward Base Delhi, to serve alongside Gurkha troops in the southernmost British position in Helmand. From Delhi, the Taleban front line is only 500 metres away. The position comes under attack several times a day from rocket-propelled grenades, mortar shells and machinegun fire. A nearby observation post is erected on the remains of a 19th-century British fort – a reminder that Britain has fought here before. A few hundreds yards away is the shell of Garmsir, once the main trading and administrative centre for southern Helmand but now a ghost town, abandoned more than a year ago when the Taleban were driven out. Asked whether he felt exposed to danger here, Harry laughed. “When you know you are with the Gurkhas, I think there is no safer place to be, really.” That is traditional soldier talk: as Harry’s comrades freely admit, this is one of the most dangerous spots in the theatre of war. As well as his air traffic control duties, Harry took part in foot patrols through the town and surveyed the area from a frontline observation position. He also had responsibility for preventing “friendly fire”, protecting aircraft from ground attack, and generally coordinating movements in the air. Further to the rear, he was based at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, an outpost in the middle of the desert six miles from the front. Here a cook works miracles with ration packs, doling out pasta, curries and mashed potatoes from a tent dubbed Hell Man’s Kitchen. The only real luxury is a large television with a satellite link to British Forces Broadcasting Service. For someone more often seen in Boujis nightclub, Harry is in his element. “I honestly don’t know what I miss at all. Music, we’ve got music, we’ve got light, we’ve got food, we’ve got [non-alcoholic] drink.” Conscious of his image as a party animal, he added quickly: “No, I don’t miss the booze, if that’s your next question.” From Dwyer, the Royal Artillery fires 105mm guns to suppress Taleban attacks at the front. Counterattacks have been few, but the collective adrenalin surges whenever the guns sound. “This is what it’s all about – being here with the guys rather than being in a room with a bunch of officers, listening to their problems, listening to what they think.” Harry has also picked up the slang. “Terry Taleban and his mates, as soon as they hear air they go to ground, which makes life a little bit tricky,” he said, describing his task of monitoring Taleban positions with the latest equipment, including heat sensors to pin-point underground positions. “Having something that gives you a visual feed-back from way up means they can carry on with their normal pattern of life and we can follow them.” He has been surprised by the amount of action he has seen. “I was expecting, ‘fine, you can be here for a few days but then we’ll drag you back’.” Instead, at the forward camps no special limits have been put on him by Major Mark Milford, Officer Commanding, B Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles. Patrolling the empty streets of Garmsir, Harry is just another soldier. “Just walking around, some of the ANP (Afghan National Police) haven’t got a clue who I am,” he said. The Taleban, only 500 metres away, were also unaware of his presence. The town has changed hands repeatedly in the course of the fighting. Although a few people have moved back, it is too close to the front for safety. Its bullet-pocked buildings are stalked by a few feral cats, the shops lying open and empty. “It’s fantastic,” Harry said, as a boy trotted by on donkey, not recognising one of the most famous faces in the world. “I’m still a little bit conscious not to show my face too much in and around the area. “I think up north when I do go up there, if I do go on patrols in amongst the locals I will still be very wary about the fact that I need to keep my face slightly covered. Just on the off chance that I do get recognised, which will put the other guys in danger.” Dirty, unshaven, under fire, in danger and in the middle of a battlefield, the Prince, it seems, has found a measure of internal peace. Compiled with reports from John Bingham, PA chief reporter

^^Yes, its funny. But this strategy gives the green light to legally spying on Muslims, individually. This is very worrying.

New strategy to stem flow of terror recruits This article appeared in the Guardian on Thursday February 28 2008 on p1 of the Top stories section. It was last updated at 00:13 on February 28 2008. Senior police officers have drawn up a radical strategy to stop British Muslims turning to violence which will see every area of the country mapped for its potential to produce extremists and supporters for al-Qaida. The 40-page document, marked restricted, was approved by a top-level police counter-terrorism committee on Monday, and is expected to be formally adopted within weeks. The Association of Chief Police Officers hopes it will help to stop al-Qaida's ideas gaining hold in primary schools, colleges, the internet and prisons. Other initiatives in the strategy include: · guidance to parents on how to stop children searching for extremist websites · an anti-extremism agenda to be included in "all state-maintained educational establishments from primary schooling through to universities" by 2008/9 · intervening to stop convicted al-Qaida terrorists and supporters from spreading extremist ideology in prison. Acpo's plans have been prompted by a realisation that new recruits are being attracted to violent extremism despite scores of convictions, arrests and the disruption of plots. The country's most senior counter-terrorism officials believe the level of threat has remained severe and sustained since the July 2005 attacks on London killed 52 people. More effort and new approaches will be made "to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism and violent extremism", the document says. Though the document does not mention the Iraq war, it accepts that foreign policy can trigger a sense of grievance that can lead to violence. It urges officers across England and Wales to "effectively address grievances", and says: "This objective is not for the police alone. Some grievances will be international in dimension." It includes a stark assessment about how far police have to go in building trust with Muslim communities. "Research last year revealed that the police service would be very low on the list of agencies that the Muslim community would turn to if they had concerns about a member of their community who embraced violent extremism ... the police service has a long way to go in building a relationship of trust around these issues..." It cites the example of drug use, saying that in the 1980s people would not tell the police about those close to them who were using illegal substances. Now that reticence has lessened through intensive work by officers. The new strategy will be rooted in "neighbourhood profiling". "This will allow us to connect with all groups and to understand what is normal and what is unusual," it says. "We need to continually improve our knowledge about communities and how they function both in a social and religious context." A senior source with knowledge of the discussions leading up to the writing of the document said mapping was important: "You have to assess where the need is greatest. Just relying on the census data for the number of Muslims in an area is not detailed or sophisticated enough." The plan also calls for guidance for parents about how to manage the use of the web by their children. "The internet is a potential area where a tendency towards violent extremism can be exploited ... Parents and carers have a need for advice on how to control access for their children and to understand what defines the legal/potentially illegal divide." The document says there is a "pressing need to develop the growing relationships between the police and the education sector at every level with regard to preventing violent extremism". With more terrorists and supporters being jailed, the document says those convicted must also be stopped from indoctrinating other inmates. The senior source added that the plans were a radical change for the police: "It's a recognition that it is a major and important new area of work and the police should see it as a mainstream area of work."

Originally posted by Northerner: We missed an earthquake! :mad: Lool. Hell yeah, you missed an earth-quake. You know, I know one or two things about quakes and tremors; we had one while I was in Nairobi. If you are in Nairobi, that'll be the only time you see so many Somali gashaantimo in their guntinos outside the buildings. I know of someone who went round collecting digits. Shame. On the contrary, I had a bitter argument with this girl in her in mid-20ies. I ordered her to step outside the building and she argued back - belo, never thought gabdhaha Africa jooga can be that disobedient! Anyway, I didn't feel a thing last night. Wasn't so strong to wake me from slumber.

^^Ma suduuddii laguugu qoondeeyey propaganda-da ayaan dooneeysa inaad jeebkaaga ka faaruqiso? Adeeryaal waa inoo Waterloo of us and yours. Its coming to a lash green field in Maakhir. Warmaha sii tunta .

^^Waatan

Waaryaarahee, war nimankan aan deriska nahay caawa eega! War ma gorgortan aanan jirin baad hore u gasheenba? Oo ma doollarkii ay naagtii Maraykan booqashada Hargaysa ku tagtay baa saa u badnaa talow?

I have seen Ugly Betty without the braces on her teeth..she's got something going.

^I am not selling yet . But I know a fella who's looking for quick bucks . Even when you talk of Gorayo, he hears sounds in dollars lol. PS: No faith in SL shillings? Or is or SL-ings .

Originally posted by GJ_Goate: Somaliland is nicht so gut, aber Somalia is zer gut! Does that mean Somaliland sux in German? Oh you wait for the Suldaans and Ayoubs of this forum. They'll invade you on the pretext of dhulbalaarsi .

Loool. Good eye for detail .

^So you coudn't find, I gather . Its not far from Mile End tube station actually. Soon as you exit the station turn left and walk on until you cross the traffic lights. On your left there will be Bow Gardens and on your right there sits Queen Mary Uni. From there ask any QM raveller you spot around the campus .